UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will provide up to 60 million for two new research labs to develop new breakthroughs in AI.

Led by Oxford and University College London, the labs will aim to open up new avenues for what AI can do – from building open-source technologies that run on widely available hardware, which could include ordinary consumer computers, to rethinking how AI systems learn without requiring vast centralised computing power.

By focusing on changes to the fundamentals of AI that could lower costs and improve performance, the work will help open AI to far more organisations. 

The Science of Fundamental AI Research (SOFAIR) Lab will develop new open-source AI technologies that can run on widely available hardware, while the British Open-ended Learning and Discovery (BOLD) Lab will rethink how AI learns from the world around us.

AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said:

"We are only just beginning to unlock AI’s huge potential to grow our economy and improve our public services. With our world-leading universities and deep pool of AI expertise, Britain can set the agenda for what comes next.
 

"These new labs will lead the world in the fundamental work that is set to make AI cheaper, more practical and easier to adopt so more businesses and public services across the UK can benefit.

"And by building this capability here at home, backed by our world leading universities, we’re strengthening our own expertise, reducing reliance on others and securing Britain’s place at the forefront of this technology – fittingly announced on what would have been Alan Turing’s 114th birthday.

UCL Lead Professor David Barber said:
 

"We’re very excited that UCL will be the leading the new SOFAIR Lab. While current AI systems are impressive, many still suffer from basic issues such as inaccurate responses to questions. These systems often use similar underlying architectures, so SOFAIR will bring together the broader sciences and fresh ideas to create a new generation of open-source models. This will reduce dependency on the small number of model providers, boosting UK sovereignty and its position as a global player in AI.

Oxford University Associate Professor Jakob Foerster said:

"The UK cannot win the global AI race simply by trying to outspend the largest technology companies on data and compute. BOLD is about a different route: discovering fundamentally new ways to build AI that are more efficient, more open and better aligned with human needs. 

By focusing on new paradigms for learning, rather than only scaling existing methods, we aim to help secure the UK’s sovereign capability in AI and ensure that academic research can shape the future of the field."
Professor Charlotte Deane, Senior Responsible Owner for the UKRI AI Programme and Executive Chair of EPSRC, said:

"The UK is already one of the world’s leading nations in AI research. We are one of the few countries in the world with all the right ingredients, from a deep pool of top AI experts to world-class universities.

These labs will put that advantage to work, backing the bold, high-reward ideas that can shape the future of AI. We look forward to working with the labs to maximise the benefits for the UK."

The funding forms part of the UKRI AI Strategy – a £1.6 billion plan to strengthen the UK’s leadership in AI over the next 4 years.